On Saturday it was raining in the morning so we sloped about until it dried up round about midday.
Going outside we were surprised how warm and humid it was.
We got to Falko's late and they were out of scones - disaster. 2nd choice raisin brioche was also gone - so we shared a cheese tongue and a pretzl, had our usual start-up coffees and got moving...and stopped...and got moving...and stopped.
My legs always seem to be super-stiff on a Saturday. I can't quite work out why. Can a long day at the office do that to your legs? Apparently it can.
I've discovered that when we stop to take photos after a mile or so, when I start again my legs will have eased off considerably. So I decided to have a stop anyway even though there was nothing much to photograph. The light was kind of dull.
Peter was bemoaning the lack of butterflies and wondering loudly where they were. I said I thought they just go to ground - close their wings and you can't see them. They were actually everywhere, listening. He perked up at this thought.
Round the corner at Aberlady nature reserve we went off-piste for a while to a bit of scrubby grass-land where we met the toad last week. Peter was surprised and pleased to find common blues in the undergrowth and bounded around trying to photograph them. I was trying to figure out what was so nice about the landscape - all the grasses in the foreground with the sea in the distance and the shape of Arthur's Seat in the far distance.
When we eventually got going again my legs had seized up and had to be warmed up all over again. There was quite a stiff west wind blowing when we got down to the beach so we raised the pace temporarily.
Then we went back to mooching when we got back on the grass and went down to the shell beach to see what was doing there. We were out for 2hrs 17 but ran for 1 hr and covered just over 6 miles.
It's a good way of relaxing though. Coming back into town we went past Tescos and all that Saturday hell. There were "Hibees" all over the place. I thought all that was over, but apparently it's started again.
Today Peter was heading off for a 35 miler with a few like-minded pals. He did encourage me to come along, to be fair, or said I should come along and run "just 20". I have no desire to run "just 20". Ever since the marathon 2 things have been running concurrently.
One thing is that I keep forgetting I've done it and I find myself looking at my pace when I'm out and thinking ruefully "I need to run a quicker pace than this for 26 miles if I want to go under the 4 hours". Then I realise I've already done it! It's alright. You did it. Dear Mary, please catch up with the news. You have done your marathon for the year and you did manage to go under 4 hours. So relax. You can run as slow as you like. Except at the Musselburgh 10K next week. No, including the Musselburgh 10K next week. I've decided that that's just "a social", not a race.
Number two thing is that I hate the thought of running long. I think the Hoy half was the furthest I've run since the marathon. And I definitely didn't want to run that far. I'm just not interested. Most of the time my legs are sore. It would be nice if they stopped being sore, but I don't know what to do about it. I've bought them a new pair of Hokas actually, so that might help.
So today it was me tout seul. After some deliberation I decided to go and run 10 miles round Arthur's Seat. (I thought that afterwards I might come home and do some tidying, although there hasn't been any sign of that happening yet.) It's a very different proposition with no Buchanan. I didn't take a camera so I didn't need a rucksack. I set off at a steady pace and didn't stop once. Most of the roads around the seat are closed to traffic on a Sunday and I couldn't approve more. It's so nice. You can hear the wind in the trees and the shrubs and there's an increasing amount of wildlife around. I wish they'd just go the whole hog and close the roads completely - but it's not bad as it is.
My legs were fine for the first 6 miles and then started to protest a bit after a long downhill. Then, on the road up to the top loch there was a bunch of tourist cyclists on hired bikes so I kept my focus by trying to beat them all to the top. This is kind of a cruel game because unless you're a cyclist and a runner (and by the looks of things, these people were neither) you don't really know that on the steeper bits of hill it's more efficient running than cycling - and it's mighty demoralising having someone run past you when you're puffing your way up a hill on your bike. So what I'm saying is I soothed the pain in my legs by enjoying making some cyclists feel inadequate. A lovely story.
But it passed the time. And I beat them all by the way. The last 2 and a half miles are pretty much downhill.
So since then I've had a big lunch which is a shame because I'm kind of fat at the moment and I keep meaning to eat less. And then forgetting at meal-times.
I'm off tomorrow again. Please don't tell anyone that wants anything. The sun is supposed to shine all day.
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